He was the second Playa News employee to be murdered in less than a month. The Reporter José Guadalupe Chan Dzib was killed in the municipality of Felipe Carrillo Puerto in late June.

Chan Dzib’s slaying remains unsolved – common in a country where attacks on the media remain in the realm of impunity.

Quintana Roo state includes the crown jewels of Mexico’s Caribbean tourist industry – Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum – but it has turned especially violent as drug cartels dispute control of a coveted territory for smuggling and retailing. In the first six months of 2018, the state’s murder rate has soared by 132%.

Playa del Carmen was once a sleepy beach town next to the island of Cozumel, but it has been hit by explosive growth and increasing violence. A shooting at 2017 music festival in in the town left five people dead.